Tourism Drives Costa Rica's Quest for Purity

Visitors to Costa Rica won't be in the country very long before hearing its most popular phrase. Customs officials say "Pura vida!" while returning documents to travelers entering the Central American nation. Airport attendants direct travelers to local transportation with easy smiles and "Pura vida!" greetings.

Costa Rica's signature saying translates as "pure life" and references the esteemed value residents place on harmonious interaction between human society and nature.

Such sentiments comes for visitors as well as they encounter Costa Rica's magnificent natural environment, from leafy volcanic mountains of the "cordillera de Guanacaste" to the bubbling rivers that flow down from the peaks to lush flatlands. San Jose, on the country's Caribbean coast, features virgin rainforests and white-sand beaches.

Travelers to the country will also find accommodation options that range from small beachside bed & breakfasts to intimate mountain lodges, to branded international hotels.

This year a 100-room Green Residence Hotel and Suites opened in San Jose and a 44-room Nantipa: A Tico Beach Resort boutique property launched in Puntarenas. A 124-room Residence Flamingo by Marriott resort will open in Guanacaste in November and a 21-room Casa Chameleon hotel is scheduled to open in Mal Pais in December.

The country is recognized as a global leader in sustainable practices as 26 percent of its land mass is comprised of protected areas containing five percent of the known biodiversity in the world.

The nation has embarked on a carbon neutrality project that is a key to its eco-tourism identity. We spoke recently with Alejandro Castro, marketing director for Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT), the Costa Rica Tourism Board, to discuss the country's tourism present and future.

TP: Can you describe the national culinary plan and how will it impact visitors' experiences?

AC: ICT, along with the Costa Rican Chamber of Restaurants and the National Institute of Biodiversity, created the National Plan for Healthy and Sustainable Food as a strategy [to] improve the country's competitiveness as a travel destination. The plan will help promote our gastronomic products and highlight our national heritage.

The program's purpose is to promote Costa Rican cuisine as sustainable, considering social, environmental and economic aspects in all phases of the production, marketing and service. The program not only assists in training culinary establishment's staff on how to prepare traditional dishes, but places high emphasis in using local plants, vegetables and fruits.

Last year, ICT issued its first-ever Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) for gastronomy to several restaurants that are raising the bar for authentic, sustainable cuisine. The tourism board also plans to develop gastronomical festivals to further support the program.

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